Just Butchered My Cornish X. Now I Feel Terrible.

[MTR]

i made a thread earlier about what to do after butchering my cornish x. see link below

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/about-to-butcher-cornish-x-need-help.1475243/

this was my very first time butchering a chicken, i have cleaned and processed fish and clams before and never felt bad, but this time i feel so terrible.

i am pro gun, pro hunting, but damn, this hits me hard. i am a fully grown man and aint some social justice warrior or special snowflake.

anyone else on here felt the same after killing their chicken??

here is a pic. it weighs a little over 8 lbs in the bag. he is 12 weeks old.

it must have weighed about 10 lbs before removing the skin, organ, feathers and other body parts.




View attachment 2717139

I also think the other part that’s different is with hunting your not touching the animal and taking its life with your hands. Your at least 15 yards away so your not observing the death process up close and personal.

 

[Anycockildo]

I processed my 4 RIR straight run (all turned out to be cockerels) yesterday. I put a shot of vodka in my coffee and did it. kids and wife would not help.

For me, it wasn't that much different than processing a deer.

 

[trudyg]

I think everyone is different. S in L raises steers. His son is soft-hearted and, although he knows they are for meat, will have a hard time at the slaughterhouse. So, he stays home. His daughter, on the other hand, is so matter of fact it's scary. She's like, yeah, it's a life but that life was to feed us so off you go. She plans a medical career and will be great at it--says 'this is gonna hurt, hang on' and then rips off the bandage. It takes all kinds.

 

[Kelly Holt]

We live in such a different society now. We no longer “have” to butcher to be able to eat. 150 years ago a vast majority of the county had no choice (unless you were rich) and had to butcher and preserve the meat to live. Today we cannot go for an hour without seeing something on TV/video regularly that humanize animals. They talk, have homes, sell insurance, and make movies (yes, Babe, I’m talking to you). We have been steeped in this from our childhood! So, yes, we’re going to have a tough time butchering animals. I have a friend that won’t even shop at Piggly Wiggly because they have signs that offer a “squeal of a deal” and she can’t abide the thought of a pig squealing.

All of this works out wonderfully for the gigantic animal processors that handle our meat. People don’t have to face the reality of the conditions of their meal or even the fact that it once was alive! They just pick a piece out of a case at the store.

Up till three years ago, I was one of those people too. I finally got to move out to the country. We raised and my husband butchered our first batch of meat birds. THIS is when I had to think about why it was so difficult to do this. We hadn’t really thought it would be. There’s the fear of messing this up coupled with the up close & personal taking a life that we’ve NEVER had to do. It can really shake you up.

We are getting to butcher our 3rd batch of meat birds tomorrow. Will it be difficult? The first one, especially. I won’t be able to eat any of the “new” meat for several weeks, burying it in the bottom of the freezer. But we will know that we can provide good, clean food for ourselves and that will make us feel a bit better when we sit down to the table.

One day, we’re hoping to raise pigs. Now those are going to a butcher!

 

[cassie]

I am a complete wuss. I admit it. Wuss and all, through no fault of my own, I became the designated chicken killer. I got through it by just doing it and not thinking about it at all. I do have a policy about my animals though. I do not butcher pets and I do not make pets out of food. Ever.

 

[B-Goock]

A local butcher shop owners bumper sticker "for you to eat something died"

 

[CNJ]

I raised 15 Cornish cross and processed 8 males at 8 weeks and kept 7 females for latter. They were so fat they could hardly walk, so I decided to feed them just once a day in the morning. I put their morning meal about 20 feet away before I let them out of their cage. They started out slowly walking to the food, now they run and flap their wings to get to the food. They are so docile and easy to catch, but they don't like it when I pick them up. I hate to say it, but I got attached.........I keep telling myself, I will keep 3 for my breeding project and process the rest, but when Sunday comes around, I push the kill date out to the next Sunday.....My state pickup the rubbish on Mondays, so Sunday is the best processing day.

 

[ChickensRsmart]

I've had to put a few severely injured animals out of their misery before (wild animals) - including a dove that was disemboweled in mid air right in front of me - Hawk attack. It was not enjoyable or easy to do, but the alternative was pointless pain and suffering - before death.

However, I could not do this to one of my pets (even a pet chicken). I just could not do it...

 

[cassie]

I've had to put a few severely injured animals out of their misery before (wild animals) - including a dove that was disemboweled in mid air right in front of me - Hawk attack. It was not enjoyable or easy to do, but the alternative was pointless pain and suffering - before death.

However, I could not do this to one of my pets (even a pet chicken). I just could not do it...

I have said this before. Do not butcher pets and do not make pets out of meat. I have killed one or two of my beloved pets. These were hopeless cases and I did it to end their suffering.

 

[ChickensRsmart]

I have said this before. Do not butcher pets and do not make pets out of meat. I have killed one or two of my beloved pets. These were hopeless cases and I did it to end their suffering.

Yes - to end a pet's suffering. I would find it very difficult to do regardless. I had a meat chicken pet - unintentionally because somebody just left her in my front yard. I didn't know at the time that she was a meat chicken.
And I can tell you that even a meat chicken has a personality. lol She was smarter than my bantams...she conveyed clear and understandable emotions with every sound in her vocabulary. I could pick out her voice in a crowd of chickens. And she cried out when she died...she had a heart attack (I did not see it coming). Sure, she was just food - as long as you didn't know her... But I find myself missing her as I do when I lose a dog.